The legend:

“So the story is of Bunnyman Bridge, which is like this bridge in Virginia that’s supposedly haunted, is that…there’s this guy, the story changes depending on who you ask, but he was like the Bunnyman, who’s like this serial killer or like child molester, one of those like Freddie Kreuger kind of things. And he would like wear a Bunnyman suit to lure the children. And so the legend is like he…was either in a nearby jail or insane asylum, I wanna say it was like a psych ward or like…one of those kinds of things, that’s now like not in existence or shut down. And he like, he escaped and like hijacked a bus, and like drove it to Bunnyman Bridge and like hung himself from Bunnyman Bridge. And so, that’s why it’s haunted, so people always like…well maybe the legend is that he’s still alive and comes back? I don’t know, the point is, someone hung themselves from Bunnyman Bridge related to the Bunnyman, and he like haunts it or something, so like my sister in high school would go with her friends to Bunnyman Bridge, like so badass and scary. And she like, my mom got so mad at her, and it’s like a thing that like Northern Virginia like teenagers do and know of.”

The informant is a freshman at USC originally from Virginia. She learned this legend from stories that her older sister (five years older) used to tell her. This legend is passed through high schoolers in the surrounding area. I imagine it’s just a fun scary story to tell each other, and especially to younger kids, as the informant was in middle school when her sister told her about this legend. She told me that she had never been to Bunnyman Bridge herself because she was always too scared to go, so it’s clear that the legend had a profound effect on her.